The Providence College men’s soccer team held its annual season-ending banquet at the Rhode Island Convention Center on Saturday, Jan. 25. The team’s four graduating players, Wilder Arboleda (Pawtucket, R.I.), Anthony Baumann (Spring Hill, Fla.), George Hodge (Dartmouth, Mass.) and Phil Ziegler (East Lyme, Conn.), were honored for their dedication and commitment to the program.

The team’s annual award winners were also announced. Juniors Brandon Adler (Montville, N.J.) and Phil Towler (Cumbria, England) were named Martin Hayes Co-MVP award recipients. Baumann picked up the John Murphy Team Award, while George Hodge was named the David Kreinsen Unsung Hero. The Bill Doyle Academic Achievement Award went to Ziegler, while Arboleda picked up the Karl Anderson Friar Award.

The Friars played for the 2013 BIG EAST Tournament Championship and made a run to the NCAA Championship second round in its second season under the direction of Head Coach Craig Stewart.

Providence posted a 12-6-4 record, including a 6-3-0 mark in BIG EAST play and earned a BIG EAST Tournament home game as the No. 4 seed. Providence also posted a 11-4-2 mark in regular season play, its highest regular season win total since 2006 (11-5-0). The Friars got off to a fast start, going 7-1-2 in their first 10 games. The Friars were also architects of one of the top-four turnarounds in NCAA Div. I play in 2013.

In the BIG EAST quarterfinals, the Friars posted their second consecutive win over Creighton, 2-1, to advance to the BIG EAST Semifinals. Arboleda had a goal and an assist to lead the Friars to the win over the Blue Jays. Arboleda finished the season with four goals and an assist for nine points. Arboleda’s 18 career goals as a Friar rank tied for 10th in program history.

In the BIG EAST semifinals, Providence and Georgetown played to a 0-0 tie before the Friars were able to advance in penalty kicks (5-4). In the BIG EAST Championship game, Marquette jumped out to 3-0 lead in the game’s first 60 minutes but the Friars fought back to make it 3-2 with four minutes to play but could not come up with the equalizer.

Next up, the Friars played at Penn in the first round of the NCAA Championship and after playing to a 1-1 tie, advanced on penalty kicks (3-1). It marked the fourth time Providence advanced to the NCAA Championship second round and the third time in the past four seasons.

Providence then had to continue on the road at fifth-seeded Maryland. The Terrapins got out to a 1-0 lead, but the Friars fought back to make it 1-1 with a Towler goal at 68:10. Moments later though Maryland converted a penalty kick en route to a 3-1 victory.

Amongst the projected returners is the team’s leading scorer Julian Gressel (Neustadt an der Aisch, Germany), a Second Team All-BIG EAST selection and BIG EAST All-Rookie Team honoree. Gressel finished his freshman season with five goals and four assists for 14 points.